


Down and Out

by karrenia_rune



Category: Andromeda
Genre: Concussions, F/M, Prompt Fic, community: 100situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:37:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2033985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Trance is worried that Harper might be over-doing it, literally burning the candle at both ends in an interest to both get everything done and also to avoid the fact that he's got unwanted Magog 'visitors' in his gut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down and Out

Disclaimer: Andromeda belongs to Tribune Entertainment and Fireworks Productions. They are not mine.

 

"Fade to Black" by karrenia

Normally they did not take much notice of the times their acting ship’s engineer would emerge from Machine Shop One covered in smoke, soot and a few bandages. This was a rather routine occurrence and he’d clean up eventually and if it the injury was severe enough, Trance would take care of it in the Infirmary. 

However, to Trance’s way of thinking these occurrences were happening with rather alarming frequency. She consulted the medical database and realized that Harper may very well be experiencing the early symptoms of a concussion. 

She figured, and rightly so, that Harper will never happier than putzing around and expounding at length on whatever topic came to mind, was hardly likely to stop working because of a head injury.

‘Let’s face it, he is simply too stubborn for his own good.’ She thought. Figuring that she had the best nip this problem in the proverbial bud Trance shut down the search on the computer terminal and left the infirmary. 

When she arrived at Machine Shop One she found Harper draped over one of his workbenches fast asleep, strewn about his feet where empty cans of Sparky Cola. She reached over to gently shake him by one shoulder and after a few moments of no response a bit more firmly; still nothing.  
She began to get worried, one thing one should never allow someone with a head trauma to do was sleep. He had to be kept awake. "Harper, wake up! Harper!"

This elicited a measure of a response; he grunted. She shook him harder and his eyelids fluttered as he rolled over. "Mmm. Trance, go away."

"Harper, this is serious. You have to wake up."

"Is anything on fire? Is the ship under attack?" he muttered muzzily.

"No, it’s nothing like that we’re in any immediate peril, but it is important that you wake up," Trance replied, restraining an impish grin at his list of priorities for returning to consciousness, this was hardly the time for levity.

Harper rolled over and opened his eyes, seeing Trance and a ghostly shimmer version of her doubled. The inside of his mouth tasted like he’d been eating an entire bag of cotton balls and he had a massive headache.  
"What’s up?" he asked.

"You are, this is a good sign." Trance then peered closely into his bright blue eyes and checking to see if he evidenced any of the signs of a concussion. The fact that his eyes were red around the edges and he appeared to have a bit of trouble with his fine motor control could very well mean that her initial diagnosis was correct.

"Huh? I don’t understand what you mean by that." 

She held up the palm of her right hand and asked. "How many fingers am I holding up?"  
"Eight."

"No, four." Trance replied. "Are you experiencing any ringing in your ears. Do you remember when you fell asleep?"

Harper shook his head, irritated at the fact that he could not pull the proper strings in his brain together into a coherent whole. He then reached up to idly yank at his disheveled hair and realized that no, he was not experiencing any ringing in his ears. For the life of him, he could not remember when he last feel asleep either. "No, why do you ask?"

"Because I had to be certain that the symptoms you’ve been experiencing are consistent with someone who’s suffered a head trauma," Trance replied.

"So, what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means that you are going to have to take it easy, for a while at least. Although, I do believe that you are past the early danger stage."

"You woke me up for that?" Harper demanded.

Trance reached and gave him a light slap on his right shoulder as a form of mild rebuke. She knows he was merely teasing her but as the acting medical officer aboard ship, she could not allow him to take such a cavalier attitude towards his own well-being. "Of course, don’t be absurd."

"So what do we do now? Can I go back to work?"

"Not much yet, but I should mention this to Dylan, just in case he something critical comes up and you are not yet fully recovered."

"Hey, Trance, thanks for looking out for me. I mean it," Harper replied, as he sat down on the floor with his back resting on the workbench. "I mean it,"

Trance closed the gap between them and took both of his hands in hers and kissed on the check. "You're welcome, Harper. And for the record don't ever scare me like that again."

"I scared you? I didn't think that was possible."

"Well don't do it again," she replied and let go of his hands.


End file.
